European indie band Daughter will decide the winner of the Shure Songwriting Award 2015, from a group of eight finalists

The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance launches Shure’s annual songwriting competition, in partnership with BASCA, with indie band Daughter judging

nnual competition, the Shure Songwriting Award celebrates the art of the singer/songwriter, and has previously been judged by a stellar line up of artists including Frank Turner, Amy McDonald, K.T. Tunstall and Paloma Faith. Now the Institute Of Contemporary Music Performance and Shure announce the launch of the 2015 award, with its winner being judged by Institute alumni, Daughter.

Elena, Remi and Igor of Daughter signed a deal with 4AD records in 2012 with their debut album If You Leave being released in March 2013 and reaching No.16 in the UK album charts. The indie band have performed at major festivals, toured the world and won the Album Of The Year award at the AIM (Association of Independent Music) awards 2013.

The Shure Songwriting Award is integral to the Institute’s scholarship provision, ensuring that as wide a range of students as possible are able to access its courses, supporting, guiding and assisting deserving students in their studies. Accordingly the award aims to provide talented songwriters with the opportunity to further develop their skills through a specialist course of study. The winner of this award will receive a unique opportunity to attend the Institute’s fantastic one-year Certificate Of Higher Education Songwriting programme, worth over £6,000, for free. Designed for both songwriters and singer/songwriters, the programme helps students to develop their lyric writing, song form, structure and harmony and theory.

While studying at the Institute, the winner of this award will also be able to take part in regular live showcase events, develop their talent in a creative and supportive environment and have direct access to leading industry professionals. The winner will also receive a performance and studio microphone from Shure, worth over £500. The runner-up will get a Shure SM58 microphone and a pair of Shure SRH440 studio headphones, as well as discounted course fees at the Institute.

To enter, simply upload an original song to www.shuresongwritingaward.com before 14 April 2015. You will then have four weeks to gain as many public votes as possible. Daughter will then decide the winner from a group of eight finalists. For further details on entry guidelines and terms and conditions, or for more information on the songwriting course visit www.icmp.com